Inhalt

High-ranking visit from Japan to the DPMA

Successful PPH programme with the Japan Patent Office is continued

On 18 June 2019, Vice-President Christine Moosbauer welcomed Tomoki Sawai, Director General of the Patent and Design Examination Department of the Japan Patent Office (JPO), and his delegation to the DPMA. The discussions in Munich were also attended by representatives of the Düsseldorf office of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and of the Japanese Consulate General. Participants from the DPMA included Bernd Maile, Head of Directorate General 1, Gerald Rothe, Deputy Director General of Cluster 1.20, Dr Volker Rüger, Head of Central Unit 0.11 and Dr Doris Walter, Design Invalidity Proceedings Assessor.

Among the topics were the recruitment initiative in the patent examination area of the DPMA which has been ongoing since last year, the innovations of the design act recently passed in Japan and the exchange of information as a cornerstone of successful cooperation between the two offices. As early as from 2014, statistical data on the PPH procedure have been exchanged between the JPO and the DPMA as part of the “action plan”. Vice-President Moosbauer agreed to a further expansion of this cooperation in the coming years and stressed the great importance of the PPH programme between the two offices: 76% of all PPH applications received by the DPMA came from Japan. Both sides stressed that the friendly and successful cooperation between the JPO and the DPMA should be continued.